| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Investigation on FOSS | ZE miners on strike | Law on bankruptcy | CIPS Extended |
| Strike in Zenica | CIPS | WB assistance | ICTY arrest warrants |
| Trial of Knezevic’s killers | Free trade agreements | Miners on strike in Zenica | WB continues assistance |
| Presidency in Greece | WB loans | Defence Ministry’s debts | Ashdown visits orphanage |
| Oslobodjenje | CIPS: Yet four months for getting new documents |
| Dnevni Avaz | FBiH Army plans: sale of the property valued at 400 million KM |
| Dnevni List | “Covic: Holding of Mostar Conference is not questionable”; “Agreement on collection of RTV subscription in FBiH” |
| Vecernji List | “VL ‘hunting’ fake ‘Vegeta’ in BiH”; “Al’Qa’id makes money in Balkans” |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | “Press conference of international organizations: Solution for Mostar by end of January”; “TV subscription with phone bill or BHTV is shutting down!” |
| Nezavisne Novine | Ministry of Civil Affairs and Communications and CIPS Directorate: Deadline for replacement of documents extended; Paul Beaver: Former intelligence agents protecting Karadzic; Visegrad: EUPM is monitoring the investigation into production of synthetic heroin; Strike at Coal Mine in Zenica: 35 workers would not get out of the pit; Recruitment of BiH citizens into Al Q’Aeda: BiH young men trained in Pakistan |
Political developments | |
| CIPS project implementation
| Herceg-Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje front page , pg. 13 ‘Yet four months for issuing new documents’, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg. 2, ‘Deadline for replacement of documents extended’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 ‘CIPS documents issuance deadline extended for yet four months, Vecernji List page 5 “Additional four months for change of documents”, by Dejan Jazvic – The deadline for issuance of the ID cards and driver licences has been extended in all BiH municipalities for four months, stated BiH Minister of Civil Affairs Safet Halilovic. He emphasised that due to the increased intensity of the document issuing the Ministry will advise that the number of locations for new document issuing is increased as well as the staff number. CIPS Project Director Mirko Skrbic stated that 658.090 documents have been issued so far. |
| Ashdown visits Orphanage near Zvornik | RTRS – High Representative Paddy Ashdown together with his wife Jane on Wednesday visited Orphanage in Kiseljak near Zvornik. Ashdown presented gifts and spend few hours with the children, being very interested in the conditions of life for children. Ashdown on this occasion emphasised that BiH in 2003 made significant improvements and there should be no risking losing all that is invested so far. Ashdown send a message to the citizens of RS not to be afraid but to be brave as they enter the time of huge reforms. Oslobodjenje ‘Only citizens can change Dayton’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘BiH Constitution can be changed only by citizens of this country’, ONASA – “Not a single foreign institution has enough powers and strength to influence change of the BiH Constitution, and that can be done only by citizens of this country,” said Ashdown during his visit to the Zvornik area. Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4, ‘I will not allow Dayton be violated’ – the High Representative to BiH, Paddy Ashdown, yesterday stated that he would not allow Dayton Peace Agreement be violated. During his yesterday’s visit to Foster Home in Kiseljak near Zvornik, he said that his task in BiH is to protect Dayton Agreement, a part of which falls under the entity authority. He also expressed disagreement with some politicians from BiH, who think that Republika Srpska, as an entity, represents a threat to BiH. He also emphaised that war will never again break out in BiH after BiH is admitted into NATO. |
| Oslobodjenje Beric’s op-ed on Ashdown/hopelessness in BiH society | Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘There are those who will write to the King’ Gojko Beric – “More and more frequent appeals/letters addressed to the High Representative are a sign that the BiH society has been infected by the epidemic of hopelessness,” wrote Beric. |
| BiH Presidency members visiting Greece | Herceg Bosna Radio, Oslobodjenje pg. 4 ‘Support to joining EU’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2, FENA – BiH Presidency members Dragan Covic, Sulejman Tihic and Borislav Paravac left for an official visit to Greece on Wedneswday, where they will meet the President, Prime Minister, and Parliament’s Speaker of this country. “This visit will also be an opportunity for meeting the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and the Greek Olympic Committee, with the aim of arranging certain details of co-operation, especially in view of reception of BiH sportspeople during the Olympics”, Covic told journalist before departure. He announced that members of BiH Presidency would request Greek to support BiH’s admission into the European Union, while talks would also focus on improving economic co-operation between the two countries. |
| Statement of Day: FBiH Prime Minister Hadzipasic | Dnevni List (page 2) carries in its ‘Statement of Day’ Federation of BiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic as saying: “There is nothing that might push me out from SDA.” |
| SDP’s Sucur on forces seeking division of BiH | Nezavisne Novine pg 8 ‘Forces that desire division of BiH into three equal parts are strengthening inside SDA’ by R. Cengic – In an interview to NN, the president of the FBiH House of Representatives’ Constitutional Commission, Slavisa Sucur, claims that the ‘forces’ advocating the division of BiH into three equal parts were strengthening inside SDA. He also warned that FBiH Constitution has been constantly violated, and believes that the serious analysis of the decision that FBiH Parliament adopted to date would show that a number of decisions were not in accordance with the constitution. Sucur pointed out a number of irregularities in the respect of constitution, most obvious being the failure to respect the changes and amendments to the constitution imposed by the High Representative regarding the constituency of peoples, but which were never adopted; and the failure to respect the principle which reads that six most important positions in Federation are to be equally divided between three peoples. |
Mostar organisation | |
| SDHR Wnendt interview for Oslobodjenje
| Oslobodjenje pgs. 4-5, mentioned on the front page ‘Bosniaks’ referendums in Mostar are illegitimate’ – In an interview for the newspaper, the Senior Deputy High Representative, Werner Wnendt, denied claims the Commission for the Mostar Statute had failed saying that it just had to decide yet on two issues: the status of the Mostar municipalities and the system of election of representatives in the City Administration. |
| Head of OHR South on Mostar restructuring | Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, Oslobodjenje pg. 3 ‘Without parallelisms and domination by any people (over the others)’ – Head of the OHR South, Ambassador Jacques Andrieu, stated at a press conference in Mostar on Wednesday that unless a new Mostar Statue was in place soon, it would be too late for it to be applied in the October local elections, which would mean that the current arrangements would probably be left for next four years. Ambassador Andrieu added it would also have an effect on the forthcoming investment conference in Mostar and opening of the Old Bridge. Speaking about Mostar restructuring, Amb Andrieu stressed that any solution for Mostar has to be based on the two principles, that there are no parallelisms and no domination by any people over the others. Slobodna Dalmacija front and page 15 “Solution to Mostar by end of January’, by Zoran Zekic, Vecernji List page 4 “Statute for Mostar important for investment conference”, by f and Dnevni List page 15 “Roger Bryant new head of office”, by D. Kozina, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4, ‘New statute of Mostar needs to be urgently adopted’ also carried the statement. |
| Merdzo. Coric on HR’s letter | Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 ‘We want oneman-one vote principle to be respected in Mostar’ F. Vele – Deputy Speaker of the FBiH House of Representatives Josip Merdzo and HNC Premier Miroslav Coric assessed a letter sent to them by High Representative Paddy Ashdown as inadequate saying it did not offer right answer to HDZ BiH concerns related to the Mostar integration. They say Ashdown should compare ways of election of the councillors in Mostar and some other multi-ethnic cities and then he would see that HDZ is right. According to Merdzo, HDZ/Croats only want that their majority is respected in Mostar through the application of the one man-one vote principle. |
| Globus on situation in Mostar/Croat National Theatre | Globus (page 48 – 50, “Underground Croat National Theater in Mostar”, by T. Cadez) carries an article on the situation in Mostar in general with a special focus on the situation in the area of culture in the western part of the city. The article says that the city is still divided and that the western part of the city is much more prosperous than the eastern one. Globus reports says that “a big drama, without violence but based on force, is underway in Mostar, that is, who will be the stronger, either the Croats or Bosniaks.” The author goes on to say: “Before the war they (Croats and Bosniaks) were equal, but thanks to the assistance from outside, Croats got stronger during the war, and now they are both being controlled by a foreign Governor (NB: probably referring to the High Representative) with wide powers and full pocket.” In this context the author also says that Croats from Mostar see an aggressor in the Governor. Talking about cultural activities in the western part of the city, the author says that apart form non-inventive branch office of Croat Cultural Society “Matica Hrvatska”, there are two other cultural institutions in Mostar, the two being the “Aluminij’s” Gallery that is being described as a private service for trade of paintings of General Manager of Aluminij Mijo Brajkovic, while the other institution is the Croat National Theater. The article says that this theater is faced with big financial problems and it survives thanks to donations coming from Brajkovic and sometimes from some Croat patriots, while the state money goes to Tuzla, Zenica, Banja Luka, where theaters with valid, legal documents are functioning. |
| HNZ President Milenko Brkic on Mostar restructuring | Vecernji List (page 6, “Coalition between HDZ and SDA is for preservation of positions”, by I. Kaleb) carries an interview with the HNZ President and an MP in the House of Representatives of the Federation of BiH Parliament Milenko Brkic. Asked to comment on the latest events regarding the Mostar restructuring issue, Brkic says: “How come that all of a sudden there is a need to regulate the election units in Mostar outside the Election Law. This is not understandable and permissible. The High Representative says that Mostar is a unified city, while he using his other hand to divide it. A special organization of Mostar would come into consideration in order that Mostar has a status of a city as Sarajevo, or possibly Banja Luka, if these are the capitals of certain social and political units.” |
| Bahtijar on Mostar issue, criticizes SDA | Dnevni List (page 8 “SDA’s policy causes damage to interest of Mostarians and BiH”, by Ve. Kl.) – the President of Students’ movement for BiH, Amel Bahtijar, criticizes the behaviour of SDA, Sulejman Tihic and Fatima Leho in the process of Mostar of restructuring following their statements about Mijo Brajkovic (CEO of “Aluminij) allegedly taking over the hydro-power plants in the Neretva valley. Bahtijar also criticizes the idea of Bosniaks organizing referendums in Mostar and the policy of maintaining the six city municipalities. “It is very clear that the SDA wants to maintain the status quo, and at the moment the City of Mostar is divided. Therefore, if the SDA wants to maintain the present situation, then it wants a definitive division of Mostar. If the SDA wants a divided Mostar, then it is not honestly advocating a single and democratic BiH. Without single Mostar, there is no single BiH”, says Bahtijar. |
Economic/social issues | |
| Zenica coal miners went on strike
| Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg. 5 ‘Miners do not want to come out of the mine’, Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 9, ‘35 workers would not get out of the pit’ – Miners of the coalmine Raspotocje near Zenica have started with strike on Monday and they are refusing to come out of the mine until their demands are fulfilled. They are unsatisfied with the fact that only 60% of their December wages has been paid off. They are also dissatisfied with working conditions. They are refusing to walk out the mining shaft and they demand to speak with Prime-Minister of Federation of BiH Ahmet Hadzipasic or/and with the Federation Minister for Energy, Mining and Industry Izet Zigic. |
| FBiH HoR determines text of the draft Bankruptcy Law | Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg. 8 ‘Law on Bankruptcy procedures fires thousands of workers’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 8, Vecernji List page 2 “Workers without contracts in receivership”, by E. Medunjanin, Dnevni List, page 3 “Draft law on changes to Law on bankruptcy adopted”, by Miso Relota – According to statistic reports more than 160 000 workers receive their wages with the delay of three months or even three years and with changing the law of bankruptcy proceedings they could lose their rights, said the President of Trade Union Edhem Biber to the deputies in the FBiH House of Representatives after their decision to consider the draft amendments to the bankruptcy law in regular and not urgent procedure. The F BiH Prime-Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic said that the changes of this law are necessary because the deadlines for the extension of International loans have expired, it would accelerate the privatization and create the minimum of the social security for the workers that will lose their jobs. At the end the changes have been adopted in the form of draft, with request that the Government should put her suggestions in the law proposal and crated the program for the social security of the workers. |
| Chairman of BiH Presidency Covic on Mostar investment conference
| Dnevni List (front and page 7 “Holding of Mostar conference is not questionable”, by Milan Vego) – in an interview to DL, the Chairman of BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, talking about the forthcoming Mostar Investment Conference, stresses three issues that ought to be achieved. First, to attract mass attendance, secondly, to attract prominent names foremost from the business world and finally to sign a few protocols and agreements on concrete investments. Talking more about the conference, Chairman Covic says it is being placed in the context of events regarding the Mostar issue “because I felt that a part of the IC is putting it in the context that the success of the conference depends what happens in Mostar”. “I will say that one has to do with the other, but, as far as my position is concerned, we will make everybody clear that the conference will be held whatever the activities in Mostar. Mostar will live, this way or that way. It does not have much to do with each other and I believe that the activity on the city restructuring, which will be ended correctly for the citizens of Mostar by end of this month, can only have an affirmative effect on the environment of the conference and all the other activities such as the Old Bridge”, says Covic. |
| Terzic meets with WB official | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3, ‘US $ 100 million for reforms in BiH’ – The Chairperson of BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, yesterday announced that during the course of this year, the World Bank may allocate the amount of US $ 100 million, intended for reforms and various projects, including “Power 3”. He yesterday met with Shigeo Katsu, Vice President of World Bank for Europe and Central Asia. Terzic and Katsu expressed support to the forthcoming donors’ conference, which is to take place in Sarajevo sometime in April. The conference will be dedicated to the strategy of the anti-poverty fight. Sarajevo media also covered the issue. |
| Dokic: Talks with Zagreb on highway construction to start soon
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4, ‘Talks with Zagreb on highway construction soon’ – Branko Dokic, BiH Minister of Traffic and Communication, yesterday stated that the BiH Council of Ministers may soon start with talks with the new Government of Croatia, regarding Croatian participation in the project of construction of highway Banjaluka-Gradiska (namely, connecting this highway with Zagreb-Belgrade highway). Stressing that talks may start soon, Dokic expressed his belief that Cabinet of Ivo Sanader would re-ascertain readiness previously expressed by former Government regarding this issue. |
| SDP’s Sucur comments on veteran’s rights law | Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘For whom people that head the veterans’ organizations work?’ – SDP representative to the Federation of BiH House of Representatives Slavisa Sucur claims that 90% of the draft Law on Veterans Rights, prepared by the FBIH Government, has been copied from the draft Law prepared by the Alliance government two years ago. At the press conference held in Sarajevo on Wednesday he said that the main reason between these two drafts were that ‘the new version, in comparison with the one offered earlier, drastically decreased the rights, especially of the most vulnerable categories.’ He says: “According to the Alliance’s proposal backed by SDP, about 355 million KM would today be paid out to the members of veteran population, while the new version foresees something under 300 million KM… Our suggestion is and message to the veteran population is to think well for whom people heading the veteran organization work… having in mind that two years ago they organized protests and attacked the former government, while today, when the Law is even more strict, they are simply silent.” |
Defence/security | |
| NATO Secretary General to visit BiH today
| Herceg Bosna Radio, Oslobodjenje pg. 4 ‘Accession to PfP priority’, FENA – The newly appointed Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, will pay an official visit to BiH today (Thursday). Scheffer is planned to meet BiH Council of Ministers Chair Adnan Terzic, representatives of the Standing Committee for Military Matters, the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, and the Commander of SFOR in BiH, General Virgil Packett. Secretary General Scheffer should travel to Zenica where he is planned to visit a site for destruction of illegal weapons collected within SFOR’s Harvest campaign. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the former Dutch Foreign Minister, assumed duties of NATO Secretary General on January 1, 2004. |
| Situation in FBiH Army and MoD
| FTV, Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 15 “Thousands of discharged soldiers getting millions of marks”, by Blazica Kristo) – reports that the Defence Minister of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), Miroslav Nikolic, presented a report for the FBiH Parliament that shows that the debts the FBiH MoD had amassed between April 1, 1996 and November 31, 2002 amount to 934.360.000 KMs. The daily says the debts could go even higher given the fact that many former members of the HVO, who were loyal to the Croat self-rule and who were discharged from the Army although they did not receive discharge papers, could be filing lawsuits against the FBiH MoD. In that context, Minister Nikolic expects some court rulings against the MoD, which could be an additional burden for the Ministry and the budget. Dnevni List (front and page 9 “1600 troops met requirements for pension”, by Renata Radic) – reports that the number of troops in the FBiH Army will be reduced from 13.200 to 8.000 and that, according to the criteria determined by the FBiH Government, all the soldiers that will be discharged during this month, will be getting severance pays amounting to 10.000 KMs. After each month, the severance pay will be reduced by 1.000 KMs, since every soldier costs 1.056 KMs a month on average. Brigadier Hamza Visca of the FBiH Army says the FBiH Army has made all the necessary preparations so the discharge is carried out by end of April, should there be a political decision. He further states that an analysis shows that almost 1.600 troops meet requirements to go into pension and that the selection will be made among the 1.600. Still, Brigadier Visca says the troops that have good results and are qualified for the job should not be discharged but kept on. (Vecernji List, “First to report for discharge get most money”, by E. Medunjanin, Slobodna Dalmacija, page 15 “10.000 KM for new redundancies”, Sarajevo media) Dnevni Avaz front page, pg. 3 ‘FBiH Army plans: Property valued at up to 400 million KM on sale’ – According to the newspaper, if the necessary approvals are provided, the FBiH Army and the Ministry of Defence might soon start selling a large portion of their properties valuing at approximately 400 million KM. |
| Update to recruitment of BiH young men for Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya | Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 3, ‘BiH young men trained in Pakistan’ – NN source close to international security organisations in BiH claims that the young men from BiH were trained at terrorism camps at Lebanon and Pakistan, and were afterwards sent to some battle fields in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the same source, Hamas, Hezbolah and Al Islamia are some of organisations that financed the work of the camps. The source further stresses that the humanitarian organisations in BiH, including Bosnian Ideal Future (BIF) and El-Haramein were organising departures of BiH young men to these camps. |
| EC on alleged wire-tapping of BiH journalists | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3, ‘Tapping of journalists is a bad signal to Brussels’ – Frane Maroevic, Spokesperson of the European Commission delegation in BiH, on Wednesday stated that the tapping of journalists by FOSS may jeopardise and slow down the process of BiH admission into EU. According to Maroevic, “The respect of human rights is the first on the list of demands, which all the states, including BIH, must meet, if they want to be admitted into European Union. The tapping of journalists represents a violation of basic human rights, which is not a good signal which BiH sends to European institutions.” |
| NN editorial on the state coup affair
| Nezavisne Novine editorial by Almedin Sisic, pg. 7, ‘Coup d’etat against human rights’ –The author is writing about the most recent discovery of the BiH Parliament Commission on coup d’etat affair, according to which 30 journalists from BiH were tapped over eight months in 2003. He is critical of the fact that basic human rights are seriously violated in this state – violated by individuals assuming power, which makes the story even worse. He also says that the High Representative to BiH, Paddy Ashdown, could have used this information to undertake some measures against politicians. According to the author, HiRep should have acknowledged by now that his mission of “attaching” two entity intelligence services into one may cause catastrophic consequences for BiH. According to the author, HiRep only cares how to accomplish his two main tasks: establishment of a single intelligence agency and appointment of state defence minister at any cost, in which order Europe would applaud to him. |
| HDZ has two female candidates for BiH Defence Minister | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4, ‘HDZ has two candidates’ – The officials of SDA, SDS and HDZ have confirmed that the list of candidates for the position of BiH defence minister has not yet been set. Niko Lozancic, President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and HDZ Vice President, yesterday denied speculations that HDZ and SDA reached agreement regarding a joint candidate. He explained that: “Simply out, our requests are irreconcilable, because Bosniaks cannot even imagine that a first defence minister be a Serb or Croat.” He also said that HDZ has two candidates, both females, whose eventual candidature he would discuss with Dragan Covic and Barisa Colak. |
Media | |
| OHR: FBiH Government should seriously deal with RTV subscription
| Herceg-Bosna Radio, FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg. 13 ‘FBiH Government should seriously deal with RTV subscription’, Dnevni List page 5, “OHR: It is ironic that RS Government adopted RTV subscription, while FBiH Government has not done it”, by Fena, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5, ‘OHR: Federal Government should resolve RTV subscription system’ – Sustainable system of TV fees collection is necessary basis for financial and editorial independent of PBS stated OHR on Wednesday. That is Feasibility Study requirement and on that fact BiH Authorities should take the responsibility. “We are confident that no one in the Fed Government wants to be seen as the obstacle of BiH on the road to Europe. And that is why we expect them to tackle this issue seriously rather then to call upon the international community to solve their problems instead. It is ironic that RS Government already done everything necessary regarding the TV Fees collection while the Fed Government has done nothing”, says OHR Press Release. |
| Coordination of Journalists Associations calls on FBiH Government to resolve RTV subscription issue | FTV, BHTV, Oslobodjenje pg. 5 ‘FBiH Government should take adequate measures’, Dnevni List page 5, “BiH Journalists’ Associations on payment of RTV subscription”, by Nina – Coordination of Journalists Associations in BiH thinks that F BiH Government must urgently find a proper legal solution for TV subscription and in that way contribute to professional informing of the citizens and show that the law of Public Broadcasting Service must be respected. Because of the rejection of the proposal that the subscription should be paid along with telephone bills the Union of the RTV BiH didn’t want to say anything before their meeting with Minister in charge. Borka Rudic- Andjelic the secretary of the Independent Union of Professional Journalists said that the subscription is the first step toward creating the independent media. She said that in the present laws exists the solution for making the decision about the subscription. |
| DL interview with PBS General Manager | Dnevni List (front and page 5, “Agreement on collection of RTV subscription in FBiH today”, by I. Glibusic) carries an interview with General Manager of the BiH Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Vlado Maric. Asked as in what kind of position the PBS is after signing of a contract on collection of RTV subscription was postponed, Maric says: “We are in a financial vacuum now because contracts with Elektroprivredas expired at the end of the last year and we have not signed a new contract yet.” Maric added that the contract was signed on the territory of the Republika Srpska, while the contract for the territory of the Federation of BiH should be signed today. Asked as to why he believes that the agreement between FTV and Telecom operators might be reached today, Maric says that they had a meeting with FBiH Minister of Traffic and Communications Nedzad Brankovic and Brankovic stressed that he is especially interested in resolving of this issue. Asked to comment on the fact that Croats from Herzegovina are not satisfied with FTV programme and they demand more Croatian language on TV, Maric says: “I reiterate that RTV subscription is a tax that all citizens must pay and it will be paid sooner or later, in one way or another. I am sending a message to Croats that there are other ways in which they can influence contents of a TV programme if they believe that it is not good. We do not have ethnically divided editorial boards at BH TV 1, our employees speak their mother tongues, however, the ethnic structure has been balanced.” |
| FBiH Government to discuss RTV subscription fee collection | Vecernji List (page 3, “Installment payment of debts for Pension Insurance Fund, Health Insurance Fund and Employment Bureau”, by Z. Kresic) carries that the issue of the RTV subscription fee collection will be discussed at today’s session of the FBiH Government. VL learns that certain corrections of the decision were made in order to protect HT Mostar and BH Telekom, however, it is not quite certain that Government will adopt this decision. Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 17, “TV subscription with phone bill or BHTV is shutting down!”, by M. Landeka) also covered the issue. |
Appointments in judiciary/police | |
| SDA demands removal of Dragan Vikic
| Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 15, “Vikic unwelcome to Minister”, by Z. Tulic) carries that the SDA top still cannot accept the appointment of Dragan Vikic to the position of Commander of Special Police Units with the Federation of BiH Ministry of Interior. According to SD, these days FBiH Minister of Interior Mevludin Halilovic sent a letter to the EUPM in which he claims that a law was violated during the aforementioned appointment. Also, Halilovic tried in his letter to discredit Vikic in all possible ways. SD also says that during the last Halilovic was attacking the Director of the FBiH Police Administration Zlatko Miletic year mostly through media and he was obstructing Miletic’s work. |
| FBiH Vice-president Dzihanovic on appointments in judiciary
| Dnevni Avaz pg. 5 ‘HJPCs have never reported to local authorities’ – In an interview with the newspaper, FBiH Vice-president Sahbaz Dzihanovic (Party for BiH) said all including HJPCs had to implement the BiH Constitutional Court’s decision on equal constitutional status of all three constituent peoples in the country. He also said that the HJPCs had never submitted any report on their performance to any of the local bodies. |
War crimes/organised crime | |
| Interview with British political/military analyst Beaver
| Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 6, ‘Former intelligence agents protecting Karadzic’ – In a brief interview to NN, Paul Beaver, British military and political analyst, is not surprised at all over another failure of SFOR to apprehend Radovan Karadzic, stressing that one of reasons for this failure is because SFOR cannot do it silently and is being too loud about it. He claims that too many people are always involved in SFOR actions of this kind, meaning that SFOR cannot prevent any leak of information. On this, he recommended British and Norwegian troops as best units to perform arrests of this kind, which was proved in the past. He also suspects that former Serb members of intelligence services are protecting Karadzic. On his whereabouts, Beaver says that Karadzic is most likely moving within a small area close to BiH borders with Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia. |
| EUPM on Vasic arrest | Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 5, ‘EUPM is monitoring the investigation’ – Alun Roberts, EUPM Spokesperson, yesterday told NN that the EUPM is monitoring the case related to recent arrest of Bogdan Vasic in Brcko, suspected of having stored large quantities of acetic acid at “Terpentin” firm in Visegrad, from which synthetic heroin is produced. According to Roberts, EUPM is following up on investigation, assuming advisory and supervisory role, noting that everything else is up on local police. |